Superintendent José Banda will be in the neighborhood this week to talk about the newly adopted five-year plan for Seattle Public Schools and “tailored comments, topics and data” for the system’s District 5 representing Capitol Hill, Central District, Montlake, Madison Park and downtown students. You might hear about the project to reopen Meany Middle School, changes at Lowell Elementary, school boundaries, standardized testing, or charter schools.
Details on Thursday night’s meeting at Garfield High School and a summary of the five-year plan are below. It includes academics, of course, but also addresses student safety, technology and racial disparity in the district.
Seattle Public Schools will host five community meetings to share information on the District’s five-year Strategic Plan, with tailored comments, topics and data from each of the five educational regions. These meetings are designed to engage families, students, staff and community members in ideas to ensure academic success for every one of our students. There will also be time for participants to ask questions of the Superintendent and District leadership.
The community meetings will be held:
- Monday, March 10, 6:30-8:30 p.m., for the Southeast region, South Shore K-8, 4800 S. Henderson St.
- Thursday, March 13, 6:30-8:30 p.m., for the Northeast region, at Nathan Hale High School, 10750 30th Ave. NE
- Thursday, March 20, 6:30-8:30 p.m., for the Central region, at Garfield High School, 400 23rd Ave.
- Thursday, March 27, 6:30-8:30 p.m., for the Northwest region, at Ballard High School, 1418 NW 65th
- Monday, March 31, 6:30-8:30 p.m., for the West Seattle region at Roxhill Elementary, 9430 30th Ave. SW
Interpreters in Spanish, Somali, Chinese, Vietnamese and Tagalog will be available at each meeting. In addition, supervised children’s’ activities and light refreshments will be provided.
Each meeting will include a joint presentation by Superintendent José Banda and the Executive Director of Schools for that region. Families, staff and community members will be invited to participate in small group discussions about the Strategic Plan on how to ensure the District meets its goal of ensuring every student graduate prepared for college, career and life.
As a long-time district-watcher, I can say a few things.
1) it’s mostly a dog-and-pony show with no real info
2) at the meeting I attended at Hale, parents are frustrated with day-to-day issues (like transportation and cuts at the school budget level), not a high-level Strategic Plan that they see as having little relevance to their children’s lives.
3) parents who DO ask questions get less-than-helpful/informative answers
If you attend, you may feel you have wasted your time (unless you want to sit at a table with other parents and complain).